Taxpayers face a £2bn loss from bailing out Northern Rock but it should be seen as a the price paid to secure 'financial stability', the National Audit Office (NAO) has said.

Former Close Asset Management executives have launched a property and tax planning investment management business called TIME Investments.

Homeowners will be hit by fresh increases in mortgage rates as the storm in the eurozone hammers Britain’s financial system.

DUE DILIGENCE Is it possible to know everything about the products you recommend? Charlotte Richards investigates.

Vanguard Asset Management has launched its first UK exchange-traded fund range with a five-strong offering of physical ETFs.

Offloading the taxpayer stakes in Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds Banking Group could take years, the Treasury select committee was told yesterday.

Goldman Sachs Asset Management (GSAM) has identified four markets it expects will post stellar growth over the next decade, potentially rivalling BRIC nations.

Richard Saunders, chief executive of the Investment Management Association, is to step down at the end of 2012.

Former Barclays chief John Varley is no longer in the running for the top job at the Bank of England, Investment Week understands.

Avelo, provider of technology solutions to the Financial Services industry, has acquired sourcing system TrigoldCrystal.

Fund groups are scrambling to develop risk-rated propositions ahead of the RDR deadline at the end of this year, with major houses including Jupiter planning how to enter the space.

Investec Asset Management is the latest group to launch a range of clean share classes ahead of the year-end RDR deadline.

LOSSES As J.P.Morgan shares plunge following one of its largest ever trading losses, we list ten of the greatest losses ever suffered in the financial sector.

CONDENSED NEWS The pick of this week's articles on IFAonline...

UK banking shares dragged the FTSE 100 lower this morning as sentiment struggled following J.P. Morgan's revelation that it lost $2bn in a trade which went awry.

Bestinvest has undergone a structural review of the business which could result in job losses, it has emerged.

SWIP has joined the growing number of asset managers offering RDR-ready share classes by launching a lower-cost share class for its £38m Diversified Assets fund.

Shares in JPMorgan Chase fell almost 7% in after hours trading on Wall Street on Thursday after it revealed a surprise $2bn derivatives trading loss by a London trader.

Standard Life will roll out RDR-friendly charging structures across its key retail product lines this year, in a move which will see the provider pass fund manager rebates back to new clients on its fund supermarket, FundZone.

The financial services industry can protect itself from future mis-selling scandals by outlawing commission across the board, BBC Moneybox journalist Paul Lewis said today at the annual Building Societies Association (BSA) conference.

The Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) has ruled against an adviser who recommended clients invest in cells of the Stirling Mortimer fund range.

Aviva Investors has appointed Paul Abberley as interim chief executive following the departure of Alain Dromer.

Hargreaves Lansdown has said it “intends” to remain independent after the Retail Distribution Review (RDR).

The number of complaints related to advising, selling and arranging rocketed from 647,000 in the first half of last year to almost 1.1 million in the second half, according to figures released by the FSA today.

Frances Hudson, global thematic strategist at Standard Life Investments, on lessons unheeded from the 2008 financial crisis.

The Chancellor has set out plans to clamp down on the use of tax loopholes and reliefs as part of a raft of measures targeting the wealthy.

BUDGET 2012 Want to make sense of what the Budget 2012 will mean for you and your clients?

The government is considering issuing "super gilts" - bonds with a repayment date lasting 100 years or more - which it hopes will allow it to lock in the current record low base rate.

The nationalisation and resale of Northern Rock will rake in a profit of up to £11bn for UK taxpayers, it was announced today.

The FSA has banned two advisers for not being "fit and proper".

A "sophisticated" fraudster who headed up a criminal gang has been jailed for seven years for defrauding high street banks out of almost £8m through multiple fraudulent mortgage applications.